Acts 3

Acts 3 is one of those chapters where the miracle is incredible—but the miracle is not really the point.

Peter and John are going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, and there is a man there who has been lame from birth. Every day, somebody carries him to the temple gate called Beautiful so he can beg.

Think about that for a second.

This man has probably seen Peter and John before. He may even have seen Jesus before. He has spent his entire life dependent on somebody else just to get him to the place where he can ask strangers for enough money to survive.

And when Peter and John approach, he does what he always does.

He asks for money.

But Peter says something fascinating:

“Look at us.”— Acts 3:4

The man looks up expecting to receive something.

And Peter says:

“I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”— Acts 3:6

The man is asking for something small enough to get him through another day.

Jesus gives him something that completely changes his life. Amen?

I think there is a lesson there for us as men.

So often we come to God asking Him to manage our circumstances.

“Father, make this problem easier.”

“Fix this relationship.”

“Help me at work.”

“Take away this pressure.”

And sometimes God absolutely does those things.

But men.....how often are we are begging for coins while God wants to make us walk?

We are asking Him to improve the old life while He is offering transformation.

And notice what happens when the man is healed. Verse 8 says he enters the temple:

“walking and leaping and praising God.”

He doesn't quietly walk away thinking, “Hmmm....what do ya know.”

“Well, that was fortunate.”

Everybody knows something huge just happened.

And that's when Peter immediately redirects the attention.

The crowd is staring at Peter and John, and Peter basically says, Why are you looking at us? We didn't do this.

That is important.

Peter had just performed an astonishing miracle, and he refuses to take the glory.

because it wasn’t him....it was Jesus! Amen?

And then Peter absolutely brings it! He preaches it!

He tells them:

You rejected Jesus.

You handed Him over.

You chose a murderer instead of Him.

You killed the Author of life.

But God raised Him from the dead.

And then Peter says verse 16:

“And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong…”

The power wasn't Peter.

The power wasn't John.

The power wasn't some secret technique known to only the apostles.

The power was Jesus Christ.

But Peter doesn't stop there....he keeps digging in.

This is where the gospel shows up.

After telling these men that they rejected and killed the Messiah, Peter says:

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out…”— Acts 3:19

That is extraordinary grace.

Peter is talking to people who participated in rejecting Jesus, and the message isn't:

“You're finished.”

The message is:

Turn around. Come back. There is forgiveness available.

That phrase “blotted out” is beautiful.

Not managed.

Not temporarily covered.

Not held over your head forever.

Blotted out.

Three Things

And I think there are three things in Acts 3 that speak directly to us as Christian men....as the men of this church...as the men that are strong in the faith and standing firm...as the men leading our families.

First, give people Jesus, not merely solutions.

Peter could not give the man money. But he gave him Christ.

There are going to be men around us with broken marriages, addictions, financial problems, anger, fear, loneliness, and all kinds of wounds.

We should absolutely help where we can.

But if all we ever give somebody is advice, we've given them too little.

Ultimately, they need Jesus. They need Jesus.

Second, never confuse what God does through you with what you did yourself.

Peter immediately redirected the glory.

Any leadership we have, any ministry success, any wisdom, any opportunity to help somebody—it belongs to Christ.

The minute we start thinking, “Look what I did,” we're in dangerous territory.

And finally, repentance is not humiliation. It is an invitation home.

Peter says, “Repent and turn back.”

That's not merely a threat. It’s not come sit in the corner with the dunce cap until you are shamed enough.

It's an invitation.

Turn around.

Come back to the God who loves you.

Let Him blot out the sin.

Let Him restore what is broken.

And maybe brings us to the question of the night....the ultimate question we should ask ourselves:

Are we asking Jesus merely to give us enough to keep limping through life—or are we willing to let Him tell us to rise up and walk?

Because Jesus didn't come merely to make broken men a little more comfortable.

He came to make dead men alive. He came to rip death out of you and make you alive. Amen?